Before the 1988 Winter Olympics, much was made of the impending "Battle of the Brians," matching U.S. skater Brian Boitano with Canadian Brian Orser. Boitano had the skate of his life to edge Orser for the gold medal at Calgary and hasn't stopped skating since.

Learning about the past makes the present so much more understandable. And comfort can be found in reading about how Americans have overcome previous challenges and even catastrophes. USA TODAY surveys a quartet of new history titles.

Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney will have season-ending surgery on his left foot but is expected to be fully recovered for the 2008 season, the team announced Wednesday. The team's career sack leader with 60 in six seasons, Freeney suffered the injury on a spin move late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 23-21 loss at San Diego.

So, another proposed asterisk. This one would be for the New England Patriots, should they go 16-0, because of the hanky-panky against the New York Jets' earlier this season with spying on the sideline. So sayeth Don Shula, anyway.

Can't get to Milan to see Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece "The Last Supper?" As of Saturday, all you need is an Internet connection. Officials put online an image of the "Last Supper" at 16 billion pixels -- 1,600 times stronger than the images taken with the typical 10 million pixel digital camera.